Lilacs

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It was another beautiful day here in New England. Tomorrow we are expecting more rain. I photographed the lilac bush out in the backyard today as it's in full bloom. Such a pretty color!

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 500, 1/320, f5.6, subtle lilac vignette added in post as well as the frame.

Seaside Black and Whites

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What was supposed to be a rainy afternoon turned into a beautiful sunny day! This is a fishing boat heading out of Hingham with the Boston skyline in the background.

Here's a sillhouette of a Great Cormorant spreading it's wings.

The water was much calmer in the harbor here at the Hingham Yacht Club. In just a few weeks this place will be bustling with recreational boaters and sailors.

The Specs for first photo:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/200, f14

The Specs for second photo:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/640, f9

The Specs for third photo:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/640, f9

The Herring Are Running!!!!

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What makes an alewife run? Why, romance, of course! This evening, I visited the laddders at the herring run, in Jackson Square, Weymouth MA. There looked to be hundreds, perhaps even thousands of these fish there tonight. It AMAZES me every year when I go down to visit the herring run, that these fish make this run every Spring. I was lucky enough to meet one of the Fish and Game Wardens tonight. He said they expect about 100,000 herring to make the journey from the Carolina coast northward, all the way up to Whitman's Pond in Weymouth MA. And they do this EVERY year. Isn't that just AMAZING??

Alewives are ocean dwelling fish that swim up freshwater rivers and streams to spawn. Alewives and bluebacks, collectively known as river herring, are silver colored fish about a foot long.  When rivers become warmer than the sea, usually in early May, the river herring know it's time to return to their roots - where they were born and will in turn give birth to a new generation.  After laying thousands of eggs, many of them (unlike salmon) survive and make the return journey to the ocean.

I spent quite a long time tonight trying to catch the herring jumping up the ladders with my camera. It wasn't easy. The following photo is my best shot, but the quality was not good. I was just thrilled that I even caught one jumping!!! So, when we have lemons, we make lemonade! I cropped the photo and used the Photoshop Filter "Poster Edges" and turned it into an abstract. I'm thinking this photo could be used by Psychiatrists with the question.........""So, please tell me........what do you see in this image"? ;-)

Hmmmmnnnn..........Perhaps I should be visiting a Psychiatrist for even posting this shot!! :-) Call me crazy but I kinda like the quirky abstract look to it. :-)

The Specs for first shot:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 3200, 1/200, f6.3

The Specs for the second shot:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 3200, 1/200, f9

                                                               

The Phlox Are Creeping Along!

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Well, looks like we have some more pink today, but this time it has a hint of purple! I just love the look of creeping phlox along rock gardens and garden borders. These tiny little guys are so pretty!

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 800, 1/250, f16, -1 ev, border and subtle white vignette added in post

I just have to edit this post because another photo op presented itself to me tonight just before sunset. We had some thunderstorms roll through and the sky was just beginning to clear as the sun was setting. This is the result taken in my backyard.

And look!!!!!! There's even some PINK in this shot! ;-)

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 1250, 1/125, f8

A Touch Of Pink Makes All The Difference!

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Mother Nature sure does provide us with some brilliant colors this time of year. This scene would be just ho-hum without the pop of pink in the flowers and the pretty reflection just adds that extra "Ta-Da"!!! I found this little spot in Whitman MA this evening as I was out and about looking for today's photo.

Pink is the color of happiness and is sometimes seen as lighthearted. Brighter pinks are youthful, fun and exciting while vibrant pinks have the same high energy as red. They are sensual and passionate without being too aggressive.

Pastries taste better when they come out of pink boxes or served on pink plates (it only works with sweets). Pink makes us crave sugar.

The Effects of the Color Pink

 How the color pink affects us physically and mentally:

Stimulates energy

Can increase the blood pressure, respiration, heartbeat, and pulse rate

Encourages action and confidence

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 800, 1/250, f6.3, -1 ev

Country Roads Take Me Home To The Place I Belong

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I'd like to do a little series on Vermont country roads for today's photos. This photo was taken this morning and I really like the "road" in the field that I'm sure the farmer uses with his tractor and truck as he's working the field. That's Burke Mountain in the background which is located in East Burke Vermont. Note the little bits of snow that still remain on the ski trails. It was 72 degrees outside when I shot this photo!

This was taken along one of my very favorite country roads.........called Darling Hill Road which runs from East Burke into Lyndonville VT. It's a beautiful dirt road with sweeping views to the west of the Willoughby Gap and surrounding mountains, and sweeping views to the East of Burke Mountain. This section here is lined with maple trees and I like the red barn tucked in on the righthand side of the shot.

To go along with the country road theme, I wanted to add these two photos that I took yesterday. Mr S knows that I am always looking for different photo ops, and he stumbled upon this scene while out snowmobiling last winter and he wanted to show it to me. He brought me to a jackpot! I LOVE this quirky unusual series of tunnels along this dirt road! I LOVE how you can see the second tunnel through the first one!

Aaaaaaahhhhhhh........there's nothing better than a drive through Vermont with the camera in hand! I'm looking forward to my next trip back up there at the end of the month. I hope you enjoyed the country roads as much as I did!

The Specs for Burke Mtn photo:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/500, f9

The Specs for Darling Hill Rd photo:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/320, f14, -1ev

The Specs for first tunnel photo:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/200, f14, -1/3 ev

The Specs for second tunnel photo:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, 1/400, f7.1, -1/3 ev

Up And Out Early

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This was taken from the car driving along the Southeast Expresway at 5:45 am this morning. This is sunrise over Dorchester Bay. We were on a road trip heading up to Barton Vermont which is in the Northeast Kingdom section of Vermont.

This was taken driving through Franconia Notch New Hampshire at about 8:15am. Notice the snow on the top of the mountains??? Is this really May 1st? :-) Typically, there would not be any snow on the mountaintops in May, but a freak snowstorm dumped 2 feet in some areas this week. The temps. immediately warmed up to the 70's, and this is all that is left of the snowfall.

We reached our home in Barton Vermont about 9:15 this morning. It turned out to be a glorious afternoon up here. This photo was taken along a dirt ridge road that is up the hill behind my house.

I am in the car right now down in the village parked outside the pharmacy using the wifi. We're on our way to dinner. Gotta go for now!!!! Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend! :-)

The Specs for sunrise photo:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/250. f4.8. -1/3 ev

The Specs for Franconia Notch photo:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/250, f8, -1/3 ev

The Specs for Barton VT photo:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/250, f14. -1/3 ev